Bio
Michael Tan is Deputy Director of the ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ Immigrants' Rights Project (IRP). From 2008 to 2022, Michael held a range of roles at IRP, where he began as a Liman Public Interest Fellow and later worked as a Skadden Fellow. Prior to returning to the ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ, Michael served as Senior Advisor to the Co-Presidents at Community Change, a nationwide organization that empowers low-income people, and particularly low-income people of color, to lead movements for social change. Michael was also a Clinical Lecturer in Law and Associate Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School, where he co-taught the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, and served as Executive Director of The Movement Project, a new initiative on labor, climate, and migration issues.
Michael is a graduate of Harvard College and the Yale Law School and also holds a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature from New York University. He clerked for the Honorable M. Margaret McKeown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has received several awards for his work, including a California Lawyer of the Year Award in Immigration Law, a Best Lawyers Under 40 Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and a Best LGBT Lawyer Under the Age of 40 Award from the National LGBT Bar Association.
Featured work

Oct 5, 2017
We’re Suing the Trump Administration for Taking DACA Away From People Who’ve Followed the Rules

Sep 28, 2017
One of the First Undocumented Young People to Stand Up and Tell Her Story Needs Our Help

Sep 26, 2017
The Government Wants ICE to Have the Power to Lock Up Immigrants for Years Without a Hearing. We’re Taking the Fight to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Aug 7, 2017
Are States Coordinating With the Trump Administration to Take Down DACA? We Aim to Find Out.

Jun 9, 2017
Jessica Colotl’s Story Reveals President Trump’s Broken Promise to Protect Dreamers From Deportation

Nov 28, 2016
In America, No One — Including Immigrants — Should Be Locked Up Without Due Process of Law

Nov 16, 2016
Victory: Federal Court Holds That the Government Can’t Lock Up Immigrants for Being Poor

Apr 6, 2016
Immigrants Shouldn’t Be Locked Up for Being Poor